Italian government expands quarantine measures against coronavirus

The Italian government expanded on Wednesday, 11, the quarantine measures implemented throughout the country due to the outbreak of the new coronavirus . According to Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, all businesses should close their doors and only pharmacies, supermarkets and banks should remain open.

According to the measures announced last Monday 9, restaurants and bars should close their doors after 6 pm and while they are open, respect the mandatory distance of one meter between customers, or their activities would be suspended.

From now on, only pharmacies, supermarkets and banks will be able to function. Food delivery services may also continue to work.

According to the prime minister, all companies should also require their employees to work from home, with the exception of those companies that require the physical presence of workers.

This Wednesday, the total number of deaths caused by Covid-19 increased by 196 in 24 hours and reached 827. It was the biggest daily increase in absolute terms recorded anywhere in the world since the virus appeared in China at the end of last year.

Confirmed cases across Italy rose to 12,462 from 10,149 earlier. The government also announced on Wednesday that it will increase spending to mitigate the damage from the coronavirus

Recognizing the growing emergency, Conte told reporters that the government will allocate 25 billion euros to help mitigate the impact on the already fragile economy - just a week ago, he estimated that the country would need only 7.5 billion euros.

The elderly are particularly susceptible to the virus, and Italy has the oldest population in Europe, with 23% of people aged 65 and over. Experts say this may explain why the fatality rate there is 6.6% - significantly higher than elsewhere.

Most Italians appear to be respecting the stricter controls adopted in a western nation since World War II, as traffic is much quieter than normal in large cities, many shops and restaurants are closed and only a few flights are operating .